


Nice Ring to it After All

by TheRookBook



Category: The Rookie (TV 2018)
Genre: Tucy, buckets of fluff, chenford, established chenford, my man officer jones too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:55:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27129542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRookBook/pseuds/TheRookBook
Summary: Tim takes an off day without telling anyone except Grey. It was all for a good reason too. Hopefully, Lucy agrees when it is all said and done.
Relationships: Tim Bradford & Lucy Chen
Comments: 10
Kudos: 56





	Nice Ring to it After All

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Welcome to my newest one-shot! A literal bucket of fluff and smiles to distract you for three minutes of your day!  
> Timmy B is full of surprises! 
> 
> *I do not claim any rights to The Rookie* (Officer Jones is mine though. if you know, you know.) 
> 
> I'm on Tumblr @therookiebook!  
> *Not beta'd*

Lucy sat in roll call a little past eight along with all the other day shift officers, waiting impatiently for the morning watch commander to make his grand appearance. Jackson was to her right with Angela seated to her left. Each passing minute the crowd around them started to grow more and more impatient as the sergeant still had not shown.  
  
“Where is he at,” Angela asked in a whisper leaning over towards Lucy.  
  
“I don’t know. He left the house before I did,” Lucy replied softly.  
  
“Tim is never late. Makes me wonder what he’s scheming,” Angela said looking around the squad room outside trying to catch a glimpse of the sergeant but found nothing.  
  
Jackson laughed on the other side of her. “Maybe he finally ran off to Mexico,” he teased nudging Lucy with his elbow.

Everyone’s attention turned towards the front door of the room as Grey walked in. “Morning everyone,” he said walking behind the podium tossing a case file onto the wood. “Alright, settle down.”  
  
“Hey LT, where is Bradford,” Angela asked leaning forward against the table.  
  
Grey took a deep breath looking at the bold detective. “Sergeant Bradford is taking a personal day,” he informed as the crowd once again erupted in murmurs. “Never less, we will survive without him for today. Nolan and Jones, you two will be assisting the robbery unit today. Detectives Lincoln and Cobb are waiting. Officer West is scheduled to appear in court and detective Harper is also taking a personal day. So that leaves Officer Chen, you will be helping detective Lopez on one of her cases,” he said with a knowing smile. Either way, they were going to be productive or they’d spend most of their shift trying to figure out at Tim was doing and where he was. He knew that before pairing them together. Maybe if they worked together, they’d solve two mysteries in one day.  
  
\--  
Tim walked into his fourth jewelry store of the morning. Downtown was the best place to start since there was a bundle of shops close to each other, maybe he would find that he was looking for quickly. He knew what he was looking for, but he had yet to find it. He figured that when he saw it, it would jump out at him, but so far zero luck.  
  
He did not want to get something overly flashy, too overbearing, but at the same time, he did not want something too simple, too plain. He wanted something simple, but elegant enough that it suited her. He just wanted something to screamed Lucy when he saw it.  
  
The older white-haired man behind the row of glass cases smiled up at him as the door jingled closed behind him. “I’ll be with you in just a moment, sir,” the man called before refocusing on the young couple before him who were ogling the rings in the case.  
  
Tim busied himself wandering around the store slowly, looking into several of the glass cases hoping maybe it was here, but again, it was not looking promising. Picking out Isabel’s ring had not been this stressful. She had sent him pictures for weeks, if not months about what she wanted. She wanted something flashy and eye-catching. Lucy was different.  
  
Of course, they had talked about their future together. Tim knew that he wanted to spend the rest of the time he had left on this earth with her by his side. She made him a better person. Lucy’s light was broke through the looming darkness that clouded his life and helped him see. She was good for him and he hoped he could spend the rest of his life showing her how much he appreciated her.  
  
“She must be very important to you son,” the old man said appearing on the other side of the glass counter breaking Tim out of his thoughts.  
  
“Yeah. Yeah, she is,” Tim replied look up at the man briefly before looking back down at the case.  
  
“So, what can I help you with today?”  
  
Tim sighed straightening up and tucking his hands in the pockets of his faded blue jean jacket. His eyes scanning over the nametag that read ‘Warren’ pinned the man’s left side. “Just trying to find the right one,” he said offering a sad smile.  
  
“Well, seeing anything that has caught the eye?”  
  
Tim shook his head. “No. Everything has either been too flashy or too simplistic. I want to find something that is a safe medium. Simple, but elegant, ya know?”  
  
The man before him hummed in agreeance. “If you don’t find what you are looking for, we can always customize one to your liking. It would only take a few months to arrive, perfect for Christmas or the new year.” Tim started to shake his head when the man kept talking. “However, I can see that you are wanting to find one today,” he said offering Tim a grin. “We received a shipment of new designs this morning. If you will give me just a moment, I will bring a few out for you to look over.”  
  
Tim nodded. “Yeah, that would be great, thanks.” The man offered another smile Tim’s way before disappearing into the back room of the store. Again, Tim busied himself looking at the various rings in the glass cases. There were a few that he would settle for if he had to, but he wanted to find the perfect ring. She deserved the perfect ring.  
  
Minutes later the older gentleman reappeared holding a cushioned black tray that held three closed black boxes. “These three are the only ones that may fit your criteria and if you can’t find it here maybe I can point you in the right direction towards a shop that can,” Warren smiled. “Shall was get started?”  
  
He liked the first ring, but it was a bit too gaudy for his full approval. The second was just too plain. Only a single diamond sat in the middle of the gold band, it was okay, just not what he was looking for. When Warren opened the third box, Tim could not stop the “wow” from slipping out.  
  
“Here we have a white gold band with a diamond twisted vine across the front. A half carat cushion diamond on top. Not too big, not too small. Also, along the band there are small diamond runs along the sides,” Warren described holding the ring out so Tim could get a good look at it.  
  
Tim had swallow to wet his throat that had run dry just by the sight of the masterpiece before him. “That’s…That’s beautiful,” he said after a moment.  
  
“Mhmm. So, what do you think?”  
  
\--

Lucy walked out of the locker room tired and ready to go home after a long day. She had helped Angela bust her case wide up leading to an arrest. Then she was stuck doing the mountain of paperwork herself because Angela had to leave early to meet Wesley for dinner with his family. Yet that was not the most pressing matter on her mind.

Tim was. She had tried to call him several times throughout the day only to receive no answer, the same thing with her text messages. It was complete radio silence on his end. Maybe Jackson was right, and he left for Mexico without telling her. It was not like him to not answer her calls or text for so long. He had left the house before this morning, which was not unusual, she just expected to meet him at work, but he never showed. Apparently, he took a personal day, his second in the three years that she had known him, without mentioning it to her.

She was on her way out of the station ready to go home and sleep when something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. His office door was open, and a light was on which could mean two things. Either: someone was using his office or Tim was in his office.

Lucy made a slight right changing her direction from the exit towards the open office door. She slid into the door frame silently. She had to stifle a laugh as she watched him absolutely tear the report in front of him to shreds with his infamous red pen. As a rookie, he had marked several of her reports just to spite her requesting that she do the whole thing over again to his standards. She heard the annoyance in his sigh as he scribbled one last critic on the page before closing the file. He never looked up before he ran his hands over his face taking a deep long breath.

“Rough day,” she asked finally making Tim realize she was there.

Tim leaned back in his chair as his eyes took in the sight of her leaning against the door frame. “You have no idea,” he said after a second.

Lucy’s brows shot to the ceiling. A teasing smile swept across her face. “Oh really,” she asked pushing off the frame before turning and closing the door behind her and locking it with ease. They had to be careful even though the night shift had already filtered out of the station, they still did not want to be caught in a compromising position by a random passerby. Lucy made sure the blinds were down and closed before turning back to face him. “Bet it wasn’t worse than mine,” she said walking over to him.

“Hmm,” Tim hummed sitting up quickly as she walked around the desk. Lucy’s hands rested on his shoulders for support as she straddled him in the chair. “How so,” he asked pressing a kiss against her lips, his hands holding her thighs.

“Well, my boyfriend didn’t show up for work this morning. Turns out he took a personal day without telling me.”

“Sounds like a piece of work to me.”

“Oh, he is, but he’s my piece of work,” she replied playfully. “That’s not even the worse part.”

“Oh?”

“Mhmm. I tried to call him all day and sent texts, but guess what? All I got was voicemails and no reply. Plus, I was partnered with his best friend and was left doing all the paperwork at the end of the shift. My friend, Jackson, told me that he probably left for Mexico without me. Then I find him hiding out in his office destroying some poor officers report.”

Tim leaned forward to kiss her again after she finished her rant. “How will he ever make it up to you,” he asked as Lucy rested her forehead against his.

Lucy smiled down at him. “I can think of a few ways,” she played causing Tim to laugh beneath her. “You’re not leaving me for a country far away from here, are you?”

Again, Tim laughed beneath her. “No. Not yet at least,” he joked.

Lucy smacked his chest playfully. A brief silence fell over them as they stared at each other. “What did you do today?”

Tim’s shoulders shrugged. “Just some stuff,” he replied shortly.

“Some stuff? Now you’re really starting to scare me. You sure you didn’t buy some cabana down in Mexico to escape to.”

“No, no cabana down in Mexico. Now, are you done with your interrogation and ready to head home?”

Lucy eyed him for a second longer before huffing and looking away. “For now.”

“Good. Up,” he said patting her thigh causing Lucy to roll her eyes. Tim held her steady as she climbed off him before standing to his feet. “There’s something I want to ask you actually,” he said pulling a drawer open and pulling something out, only to hold it out of her view behind the wooden desk.

“What?”

Slowly, Tim moved the little black box out from behind the desk for her to see. He looked at it for a long second before glancing towards Lucy, whose jaw was practically on the floor. Tim flipped the box open, smiling down at the diamond ring staring back at him. “Tim?”

Tim smiled at her as he joined her in front of the desk. Carefully, he plucked the ring from its box, holding it between his fingers so she could see it fully. “I’m tired of waiting. We have been doing this for nearly a year now. I knew you were different from the very first day we met; I just did not know why. It took me a while to realize why you magically appeared in my life. You are the light on a dark day, that cold beer on a summer’s day, a smile on the toughest of days. Most importantly, you are a survivor, who could live without me, but Lucy Chen, I couldn’t live without you. Not anymore. So…will you marry me?”

Lucy had not noticed the tears sliding down her cheeks as she spoke. His eyes holding a pinch of doubt like he did not already know her answer. Lucy stepped forward towards him until they were only inches apart. She held her shaking hand up for him to slide the ring on her finger, his own hand trembling nervously. Lucy watched as he carefully pushed the diamond ring on her finger, impressed that it fit like a glove, but what else did she expect? It’s Tim. “Yes, I will marry you,” she said softly.

Tim pulled her to him until she was pressed fully against him. He leaned down capturing her lips with his slowly as her hands pulled the bottom of his jacket, not wanting to let him go. Their future was just beginning. Something she had dreamed about was coming true, and she was ready to have him beside her side every day. Tim and Lucy Bradford does have a nice ring to it after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Aye! Thanks for reading! All comments and kudos are appreciated!! Let me know what you think!! 
> 
> Remember, I am on Tumblr (@therookiebook)!


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